Staff Profile

Career Summary

Biography

I began as a Lecturer in Health Behaviour, in January 2008. My role is a combined teaching and research position involving predominantly face-to-face teaching into, and coordination of Public Health courses and components of the Joint Medical Program. My research work exists as two main arms; one in public health and health behavior change with a focus on adolescent alcohol consumption, and another on the scholarship of teaching and learning with particular focus on interprofessional education.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Newcastle, 13/06/2008

Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Hons), University of Newcastle, 26/11/2004

Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, University of Newcastle, 15/12/2003

Research

Research keywords

Alcohol

Community-based studies

Indigenous health

Interprofessional education

Parents and adolescents

Research methodology

Research expertise

From 2005 to 2007 I worked full-time on my PhD studies, supported by an Australian Post-Doctoral Award. My PhD studies involved the management of a large randomized controlled trial of an intervention to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to quit smoking during pregnancy.

Since then, I have established myself in behavioural science research and in particular, the alcohol field, building an original program of research relating to parental supply of alcohol and adolescent alcohol consumption. This work has led to several national and international research collaborations and projects.

I have established cross-disciplinary collaborations in the scholarship of teaching and learning, which has to date, been the subject of a large external grant, and two internal grants. This work is at the forefront of the field of interprofessional education and has the potential to influence curriculum development and policy in health professional education.

I am also a member of the Research Centre for Health Professional Education and the Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour.

Languages

English

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

111712

Health Promotion

40

130209

Medicine, Nursing And Health Curriculum And Pedagogy

40

111701

Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Health

20

Collaboration

I collaborate with both national and international researchers, particularly in relation to social issues regarding alcohol consumption and parental supply of alcohol. I have strong link with researchers from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre in Melbourne, Edith Cowan University, the Centre for Addictions Research, BC (Canada), Addiction Info (Switzerland), as well as other University of Newcastle researchers.

I am a member of several research collaborations in relation to interprofessional education and communication skills training.

Administrative

Administrative expertise

I am a member of Academic Senate, and have previously held positions on the Faculty of Health Board, and the Teaching and Learning Committee, as well as associated working parties. I have also actively contributed as a member of the 'Academic experience' working party as part of my Academic Senate role.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

Communication skills

Health behaviour change

Interprofessional education

Public Health

Teaching expertise

I am involved with teaching interactional skills (clinical communication) to Medicine and Pharmacy students and have been heavily involved in the development of resources and implementation of curriculum changes to enhance this aspect of the syllabus across these programs. I am also involved with training simulated patients for communication skills teaching and assessment.

I also facilitate problem based learning sessions in the Joint Medical Program, and teach into and coordinate courses in the PDHPE Education Program - dealing with the Public Health and Personal Development components of the syllabus.

In 2011 I was awarded a Vice Chancellors Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and in 2012 was part of a team awarded an OLT citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.

Ebert L, Hoffman K, Levett-Jones T, Gilligan C, '"They have no idea of what we do or what we know": Australian graduates' perceptions of working in a health care team.', Nurse education in practice, 14 544-550 (2014) [C1]

Lapkin S, Levett-Jones TL, Gilligan C, 'A cross-sectional survey examining the extent to which interprofessional education is used to teach nursing, pharmacy and medical students in Australian and New Zealand Universities', Journal of Interprofessional Care, 26 390-396 (2012) [C1]

Gilligan C, Outram S, 'Culturally and linguistically diverse students in health professional programs: An exploration of concerns and needs', Education for Health: Change in Learning and Practice, 25 40-47 (2012) [C1]

Thompson K, Gilligan C, 'WHAT DO OTHER PARENTS DO? A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NORM MISPERCEPTIONS IN PREDICTING PARENTAL SUPPLY OF ALCOHOL TO UNDERAGE ADOLESCENTS', DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW (2013) [E3]

Grants and Funding

Summary

- Indicates that the researcher may be seeking students for this project.

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.

2014 (1 grants)

40th Annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society for social and epidemiological research on alcohol, Torino, Italy, 9-13 June 2014$2,000Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Health and Medicine

Sources of alcohol for teenage binge drinking$10,000Funding Body: University of Newcastle

Exploring the experience and needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students, and exploring domestic student attitudes to culturally diverse student and patient population groups$5,000Funding Body: University of Newcastle